JPMorgan Chase Emailed Trump Administration to Bail Out of Oil Industry

Top executives of JPMorgan Chase wrote in an op-ed for Fortune that the clock is ticking on the climate crisis in October. The bank said that it plans to be part of the solution. The bank said that it would align its immense financing portfolio to meet Paris climate goals in the oil gas, electric power, and automotive sectors.

They wrote, “We’re optimistic that industry and governments will harness the momentum and rise to the challenge. Our bank intends to, and our shared future depends on it.” The environmental watchdogs have had their doubts about JPMorgan’s commitment. This was not because the bank had on board Lee Raymond, the former ExxonMobil CEO, a longtime climate skeptic who led the corporation when it aggressively fought government action.

In a recent report on fossil fuels financing by the climate group Rainforest Action Network, JPMorgan Chase earned the distinction as the worst banker of fossil fuels between 2016 and 2020. They financed nearly $317 billion for fossil fuels in the particular period, including the gas and oil drilling in the Arctic and tar-sands extraction in Canada.

The bank undercut the climate promises in important ways that are less visible to the public. Friends of the Earth, the environmental group, obtained emails from last April between the top Treasury Department Officials and JPMorgan Chase. The emails show that JPMorgan requests the government to change lending programs meant to help smaller and medium-sized businesses.  A unique snapshot of Wall Street’s interdependence on the fossil fuels’ future.